Elizabeth Aranda, soprano Janice ChenJu Chiang, piano
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proudly presents the
2020-2021 Student Artist Series
Elizabeth Aranda, soprano
Janice ChenJu Chiang, piano
This Senior Recital is given
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Bachelor of Music in Performance degree.
Saturday, April 10, 2021
1:30 p.m., Livestreamed from Kitt Recital HallProgram
Six Elizabethan Songs Dominick Argento
Spring (1927-2019)
Sleep
Winter
Dirge
Diaphenia
Hymn
“Hello? Oh Margaret, it’s you!” Gian Carlo Menotti
from The Telephone (1911-2007)
Elizabeth Aranda, soprano
Janice ChenJu Chiang, piano
~ Intermission ~
“La Mort d’Ophélie,” op. 18, no. 2 Hector Berlioz
“Zaïde,” op. 19, no. 1 (1803-1869)
“Del cabello más sutil” Fernando Obradors
“Chiquitita la novia” (1897-1945)
“Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß” Franz Lehár
from Giuditta (1870-1948)
Elizabeth Aranda, soprano
Janice ChenJu Chiang, piano
Please turn off or silence all electronic devices.
Unauthorized audio and video recordings are prohibited.Program Notes
by Elizabeth Aranda (2021)
DOMINICK ARGENTO (1927-2019)
Six Elizabethan Songs
Argento was born in 1927 in York, PA. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Peabody
Conservatory and a PhD from the Eastman School of Music. He made his way to
Italy with Luigi Dallapiccola, where he completed his first opera, Colonel Jonathan the
Saint. After his travels abroad, he became the director of Hilltop Opera in Baltimore
and taught theory and composition at the Eastman School. From 1958 to 1977, he
taught theory and composition at the University of Minnesota. He has written many
operas, notably The Boor (1957). Argento has also received many awards including the
Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1975 for the song cycle From the Diary of Virginia Woolf.
He also received a 2004 Grammy for “Best Classical Contemporary Composition” for
Frederica von Stade’s recording of Casa Guidi.
He composed his Six Elizabethan Songs in 1957-1958, using poems by William
Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, and others. This was the first set he created after finishing
graduate school, and is now his most popularly performed set. Six Elizabethan Songs
shows up commonly in recitals because of its interesting melodies and relationship
to the piano. Argento has a way of finding the dramatic impulses that drive his vocal
melodies.
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI (1911-2007)
“Hello? Oh, Margaret, it’s you!” from The Telephone
Menotti was a popular Italian composer who wrote many famous operas during his
lifetime. His success with twentieth-century dramatic storylines, made his operas
intriguing. He uses polytonality and dissonance for dramatic emotion. His first opera
The Death of Pierrot, was written when he was only eleven years old. He began his
studies at Milan Conservatory and eventually made his way to the Curtis Institute
of Music. His career centered in the United States. However, he remained a citizen
of Italy. His first melodramatic opera, The Medium, utilizes a small cast and orchestra.
After the success of this, he responded by writing The Telephone in 1946. They have
often been paired together on Broadway.
The aria “Hello? Oh, Margaret, it’s you!” is often referred to as the “Telephone
Aria,” where Lucy avoids her future proposal for a simple phone conversation. The
aria is a staple in the popularly practiced book Coloratura Arias for Soprano. The wide
opportunities for acting beats, along with quick passages of coloratura, create an
interesting piece that is both fun for the audience and challenging for the performer.HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803-1869)
“La Mort d’Ophélie,” op. 18, no. 2
“Zaïde,” op. 19, no. 1
While Hector Berlioz was growing up, his father took special attention to train his son
musically. Berlioz began composing in his teenage years, but most of his first pieces
have not been recovered. Originally in Paris for Medical School, he took to composing,
and in 1822 began his studies under Jean-François Le Sueur. He composed fifty or
more songs that were a base to the French melodie. He was influential in the style of
romance. He published five collections and was most famous for his Melodies irlandaises.
He did not have much interest in the traditional treatments of piano and voice and
strove to create a complex sophistication of the poetry in his music. Melody was a
primary element to Berlioz’s style, not always focusing on melody, but its relationship
to the accompaniment. He used diminished 7th chords to highlight his choice of
poem. He created tension and intensity to bring out the text.
“La mort d’Ophélie” is part of the three movement trista. The piece is typically
performed along an orchestra. The direct translation is “The Death of Ophelia” based
on the drowning of Ophelia in Hamlet Act IV. Originally composed in 1842 for solo
voice and piano, Berlioz later added a treble choir and orchestra.
“Zaide” was written for both piano and orchestra, although most commonly
performed in recitals with the piano accompaniment. The music is very complex on
the vocalist with the high tessitura and quick vocal agility. “Zaide” never quite eases for
the vocalist, from agility to intense legato.
FERNANDO OBRADORS (1897-1945)
“Del cabello más sutil”
“Chiquitita la novia”
Fernando Obradors was born in Barcelona, where he studied piano with his mother.
He taught himself counterpoint, harmony and composition during his adolescent
years. He is most famous for his Canciones clasicas españolas, which was published in
four volumes. His music has a light texture that draws from the popular conception of
the Spanish sound. They are often performed due to the treatment of rhythm, lyricism,
and colorful vocals. Obradors drew from fifteenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-
century popular poetry. He conducted the Liceo and Rico Barcelona Orchestras and
composed many orchestral works during this time.
His most successful romantic piece will be “Del cabello mas sutil.” The piano
accompaniment based along the long melody creates a feeling of romance and warmth.
He has a delicate approach and the short song is over too soon. Many performers
extend the beauty by repeating the piece a second time in succession. The smooth legato
lines and simple melody make for a comforting piece to all who encounter.“Chiquitita la novia” is a representation of how Obradors pulled from the native
Spanish folksongs. The sound is obviously Spanish to the audience,and has an intensity
that is constantly driving the piece forward. Completely different from the legato lines
of “Del cabello mas sutil,” this piece is filled with a passion that captures the audience’s
attention. Both songs are very different, but pull from different aspects of traditional
Spanish songs.
FRANZ LEHÁR (1870-1948)
“Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß” from Giuditta
Franz Lehár is a Hungarian composer born April 30, 1870, and died in 1948. He was
mostly a composer of operetta, Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), being his most
successful. He studied at Prague Conservatory and was highly encouraged by Antonín
Dvořák to expand his music career. He began his professional career as a bandmaster in
Austria in 1890 and ushered in a new era of Viennese operetta by introducing Eastern
European folk music and the Parisian cancan into his operetta work. Lehár stayed
in Austria during the Second World War and, although his wife was Jewish, Hitler’s
admiration for The Merry Widow saved his wife. After the war, Lehár stayed very quiet.
Before the war, he attempted to revive his career with his opera Giuditta. This opera
proved to be less successful in the shadow of Hitler’s love for The Merry Widow.
The aria “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß” is one of the most recognizable, and
memorable, from the operetta, Giuditta. The audience watches as Giditta discusses her
power over men. The wide range for the vocalist gives many acting opportunities. The
lower register is represented in descriptions of her beauty, and the upper register shows
her passion. From the grand finish to the entertaining acting opportunities, this piece
is popular in recitals and performances.Texts and Translations
DOMINICK ARGENTO (1927-2019)
Six Elizabethan Songs
Spring
(Thomas Nash)
Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year’s pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet,
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
Spring! The sweet Spring!
Sleep
(Samuel Daniel)
Care-charmer Sleep, son of the sable Night,
Brother to Death, in silent darkness born,
Relieve my anguish and restore thy light,
With dark forgetting of my cares, return;
And let the day be time enough to mourn
The shipwreck of my ill-adventur’d youth:
Let waking eyes suffice to wail their scorn,
Without the torment of the night’s untruth.
Cease, dreams, the images of day-desires
To model forth the passions of the morrow;
Never let rising sun approve you liars,
To add more grief to aggravate my sorrow.
Still let me sleep, embracing clouds in vain;
And never wake to feel the day’s disdain.Winter
(William Shakespeare)
When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail;
When blood is nipt and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl:
Tu-who!
Tu-whit! Tu-who!—A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl
Then nightly sings the staring owl:
Tu-who!
Tu-whit! Tu-who!—A merry note!
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
Dirge
(William Shakespeare)
Come away, come away, death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid;
Fly away, fly away, breath;
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
O prepare it!
My part of death, no one so true
Did share it.
Not a flower, not a flower sweet,
On my black coffin let there be strown;
Not a friend, not a friend greet
My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown:
A thousand, thousand sighs to save,
Lay me, O where
Sad true lover never find my grave,
To weep there!Diaphenia
(Henry Constable)
Diaphenia, like the daffadowndilly,
White as the sun, fair as the lily,
Heigh ho, how I do love thee!
I do love thee as my lambs
Are belovèd of their dams:
How blest were I if thou would’st prove me.
Diaphenia, like the spreading roses,
That in thy sweets all sweets [incloses],
Fair sweet, how I do love thee!
I do love thee as each flower
Loves the sun’s life-giving power;
For dead, thy breath to life might move me.
Diaphenia, like to all things blessèd,
When all thy praises are expressèd,
Dear joy, how I do love thee!
As the birds do love the spring,
Or the bees their careful king, --
Then in requite, sweet virgin, love me!
Hymn
(Ben Jonson)
Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,
Now the sun is laid to sleep,
Seated in thy silver chair,
State in wonted manner keep:
Hesperus entreats thy light,
Goddess excellently bright.
Earth, let not thy envious shade
Dare itself to interpose;
Cynthia’s shining orb was made
Heav’n to clear when day did close;
Bless us then with wishèd sight,
Goddess excellently bright.Lay thy bow of pearl apart,
And thy crystal shining quiver;
Give unto the flying hart
Space to breathe, how short so-ever:
Thou that mak’st a day of night,
Goddess excellently bright.
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI (1911-2007)
“Hello? Oh Margaret, it’s you!” from The Telephone
Hello! Hello!
Oh, Margaret, it’s you.
I am so glad you called,
I was just thinking of you.
It’s been a long time since you called me.
Who? I? I cannot come tonight.
No, my dear, I’m not feeling very well.
When? Where? I wish I could be there!
I’m afraid I must not. Hello? Hello?
What did you say, my darling?
What did you say? Hello? Hello?
Please speak louder!
I heard the funniest thing!
Jane and Paul are going
to get married next July.
Don’t you think it is the funniest thing
you ever heard? I know . . . of course . . .
And how are you?
And how is John?
And how is Jean?
You must tell them that I send them my love.
And how is Ursula,
and how is Natalie,
and how is Rosalie?
I hope she’s gotten over her cold.
And how is your mother,
and how is your father,
and how is dear little granny?
Ha, ha! Ha, ha!Ha, ha! Ha, ha!
Oh, dear! Well then, good-bye.
I am so glad you called,
I was just think of you.
It’s been a long time since you called me.
Yes, you already told me that.
No my darling, of course I won’t forget!
Yes, goodbye, my dear, good-bye
Yes my darling, good-bye. Yes!
Ha, ha! Ha, ha!
That’s the funniest thing I ever heard!
And how are you,
and Bets, and Bob,
and Sara, and Sam?
You must tell them that I send them my love.
And how is the pussycat, how is the dog?
Oh, I’m so glad! Goodbye!
Yes, Margaret!
All right, all right!, good-bye!
All right, all right!, good-bye!
Now, Margaret, goodbye! So long.
HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803-1869)
“La mort d’Ophélie” The Death of Ophelia
(trans. by Ernest Legouvé) (William Shakespeare)
Après d’un torrent, Ophélie Beside a brook, Ophelia
Cueillait, tout en suivant le bord, Gathered along the water’s bank,
Dans sa douce et tendre folie, In her sweet and gentle madness,
Des pervenches, des boutons d’or, Periwinkles, crow-flowers,
Des iris aux couleurs d’opale, Opal-tinted irises,
Et de ces fleurs d’un rose pâle, And those pale purples
Qu’on appelle des doigts de mort. Called dead men’s fingers.
Puis élevant sur ses mains blanches Then, raising up in her white hands
Les riants trésors du matin, The morning’s laughing trophies,
Elle les suspendait aux branches, She hung them on the branches,
Aux branches d’un saule voisin. The branches of a nearby willow.
Mais, trop faible, le rameau plie, But the bough, too fragile, bends,
Se brise, et la pauvre Ophélie Breaks, and poor Ophelia
Tombe, sa guirlande à la main. Falls, the garland in her hand.
Quelques instants sa robe enflée Her dress, spread wide,
La tint encor sur le courant, Bore her on the water awhile,
Et comme une voile gonflée, And like an outstretched sail
Elle flottait toujours chantant, She floated, still singing,Chantant quelque vieille ballade, Singing some ancient lay, Chantant ainsi qu’une naïade Singing like a water-sprite Née au milieu de ce torrent. Born amidst the waves. Mais cette étrange mélodie But this strange melody died, Passa, rapide comme un son. Fleeting as a snatch of sound. Par les flots la robe alourdie Her garment, heavy with water, Bientôt dans l’abîme profond; Soon into the depths Entraîna la pauvre insensée, Dragged the poor distracted girl, Laissant à peine commencée Leaving her melodious lay Sa mélodieuse chanson. Hardly yet begun. HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803-1869) “Zaïde” Zaide (Eugene-Auguste Roger de Bully) Ma ville, ma belle ville, My city, my lovely city, C’est Grenade au frais jardin. is Granada with its cool garden. C’est le palais d’Aladin, Aladdin’s palace is there, Qui vaut Cordoue et Séville. the equal of Cordova and Seville. Tous ses balcons sont ouverts, All her balconies are open, Tous ses bassins diaphanes, all her fountains’ basins clear; Toute la cour des Sultanes all the sultans’ court S’y tient sous les myrthes verts. is held beneath the green myrtles. Ainsi près de Zoraïde, Thus near to Zoraide, A sa voix donnant l’essor, letting her voice run free, Chantait la jeune Zaïde, sang the young Zaide, Le pied dans ses mules d’or. her feet in golden sandals. La reine lui dit: “Ma fille, The queen said to her, “My girl, D’où viens-tu donc?” Je n’en sais rien. where do you come from?” I know not. “N’as-tu donc pas de famille?” “Have you then no family?” Votre amour est tout mon bien; Your love is all my happiness. O ma reine, j’ai pour père Oh my queen, for father I have Ce soleil plein de douceurs; this sun full of sweetness; La sierra, c’est ma mère, the sierra is my mother, Et les étoiles mes soeurs. and my sisters are the stars. Ce pendant sur la colline, But then upon the hill Zaïde à la nuit pleurait: Zaide wept to the night: “Hélas! je suis orpheline, “Ah! I am just an orphan, De moi qui se chargerait?” who will care for me?”
Un cavalier vit la belle, A knight saw the pretty girl,
La prit sur sa selle d’or. took her upon his golden saddle.
Grenade, hélas! est loin d’elle, Granada, alas, is far from her,
Mais Zaïde y rêve encor. but Zaide still dreams of it.
FERNANDO OBRADORS
“Del cabello más sutil” From the Finest Hair
Del cabello más sutil From the finest hair
Que tienes en tu trenzado in your tresses
He de hacer una cadena I wish to make a chain
Para traerte a mi lado. to draw you to my side.
Una alcarraza en tu casa, In your house, young girl,
Chiquilla, quisiera ser, I’d fain be a pitcher,
Para besarte en la boca, to kiss your lips
Cuando fueras a beber. whenever you went to drink. Ah!
FERNANDO OBRADORS
“Chiquitita la novia” Tiny the Girlfriend
(Curro Dulce)
Chiquitita la novia, Tiny the girlfriend,
Chiquitito el novio, tiny the boyfriend,
Chiquitita la sala, tiny the living room,
Y el dormitorio, and the bedroom,
Por eso yo quiero For that reason I want
Chiquitita la cama for the bed to be tiny
Y el mosquitero. as well as the mosquito net.
FRANZ LEHÄR (1870-1948)
“Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß” My Lips, They Kiss So Hot
(Paul Knepler and Fritz Löhner-Beda)
Ich weiß es selber nicht, I don’t understand myself,
warum man gleich von Liebe spricht, why they keep talking of love,
wenn man in meiner Nähe ist, if they come near me,
in meine Augen schaut und meine if they look into my eyes and kiss my
Hände küsst. hand.
Ich weiß es selber nicht I don’t understand myself,
warum man von dem Zauber spricht, why they talk of magic,
dem keiner widersteht, wenn er mich you fight in vain, if you see me
sieht wenn er an mir vorüber geht. if you pass me by.Doch wenn das rote Licht erglüht But if the red light is on
Zur mitternächt’gen Stund in the middle of the night
Und alle lauschen meinem Lied, and everybody listens to my song,
dann wird mir klar der Grund: then it is plain to see:
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß My lips, they give so fiery a kiss,
Meine Glieder sind schmiegsam und my limbs, they are supple and white,
weiß,
In den Sternen da steht es geschrieben: it is written for me in the stars:
Du sollst küssen, du sollst lieben! Thou shalt kiss! Thou shalt love!
Meine Füße sie schweben dahin, My feet, they glide and float,
meine Augen sie locken und glüh’n my eyes, they lure and glow,
und ich tanz’ wie im Rausch den ich and I dance as if entranced, ’cause I know!
weiß,
meine Lippen sie küssen so heiß! My lips give so fiery a kiss!
In meinen Adern drin, In my veins
da rollt das Blut der Tänzerin runs a dancer’s blood,
Denn meine schöne Mutter war because my beautiful mother
Des Tanzes Knigin im gold’nen Alcazar. was the Queen of dance in the gilded
Alcazar.
Sie war so wunderschön, She was so very beautiful,
ich hab’ sie oft im Traum geseh’n. I often saw her in my dreams;
Schlug sie das Tamburin, zu wildem if she beat the tambourine, to her
Tanz, beguiling dance
dann sah man alle Augen glühn! all eyes were glowing admiringly!
Sie ist in mir aufs neu erwacht, She reawakened in me,
ich hab’ das gleiche Los. mine is the same lot.
Ich tanz’ wie sie um Mitternacht I dance like her at midnight
Und fühl das eine bloß: and from deep within I feel:
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß! My lips, they give so fiery a kiss!
Meine Glieder sind schmiegsam und My limbs, they are supple and white,
weiß,
In den Sternen da steht es geschrieben: it is written for me in the stars:
Du sollst küssen, du sollst lieben! Thou shalt kiss! Thou shalt love!
Meine Füße sie schweben dahin, My feet, they glide and float,
meine Augen sie locken und glüh’n my eyes, they lure and glow,
und ich tanz’ wie im Rausch, denn ich and I dance as if entranced, ’cause I know!
weiß,
meine Lippen sie küssen so heiß! My lips give so fiery a kiss!Artist Profiles ELIZABETH ARANDA (soprano) grew up in Prescott, AZ, where she had been performing since she was six years old. After officially beginning her music studies at the age of ten, she participated in competitions, musicals, dance recitals, and workshops. Prior to NAU, she performed roles such as Beth March in Little Women and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Her college debut was a Spirit in Die Zauberflöte, followed by Emmie in Albert Herring the following year. In the Fall of 2019, Aranda performed with the Verde Valley Sinfonietta in Sedona, AZ, as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 and Missa solemnis, op. 123: Kyrie. She received third place in the Upper Classical Treble Division at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Arizona District in the Fall of 2019. Aranda was cast in the roles of Nella in Gianni Schicchi and Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica simultaneously in the Spring of 2020 at NAU, but the production was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She received the Lloyd and Sally Hanson Singer/Actor Award of Excellence Scholarship for the 2020-2021 academic year. Most recently, she played the role of Sandrina in NAU Lyric Theater’s performance of La finta giardiniera. Elizabeth Aranda is from the voice studio of Cynthia Skelley-Wohlschlager. JANICE CHENJU CHIANG (piano) enjoys a multifaceted career as a teacher, soloist, collaborative pianist, and chamber musician. She has performed extensively throughout the United States, including Arkansas, California, Florida, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Arizona, as well as her native country, Taiwan, and South Korea. In addition to frequently giving traditional performances on solo and ensemble music, Chiang is also interested in producing interdisciplinary concerts. Her collaboration included concertizing with acclaimed photographer Shane McDermott and installation artist Shawn Skabelund, of which the latter won the Viola Award in 2017. She has also concertized with many esteemed artists including violinist Fritz Gearhart, clarinetist Keith Lemmons, soprano Faye Robinson, and the Concertmaster of Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Steven Moeckel. Chiang has appeared in many festivals and conferences including The American Liszt Society Festival, Tucson Vocal Art Festival, Conference of North American Saxophone Alliance, International Alliance for Women in Music, and the 2012 CMS/NACWPI/ATMI/PKL National Conferences. Chiang currently serves as Lecturer of Collaborative Piano at Northern Arizona University. She is also training to be a Feldenkrais Practitioner, a self-experiencing somatic education developed by Moshe Feldenkrais. She holds performance degrees from the University of Arizona (DMA), Fu-Jen Catholic University (MM) and Soochow University (BA). Her major teachers include Paula Fan, Michael Dellinger, Shu-Wen Sun, Bobby Wang, Patricia Kavanagh, and FenFen Chen.
Acknowledgements I would like to thank: My studio teacher, Dr. Cynthia Skelley-Wohlschlager My mother, Julie Aranda, and father, Michael Aranda, My collaborative pianist, Dr. Janice ChenJu Chiang My siblings Jordan, Lexie, Emily, and Chris Dr. Judith Cloud The NAU Voice Faculty Arlene Hardy Debbie Place Mackenzie Nelson Courtney Hoffman Gregory Thompson The NAU Kitt Recital Hall Staff
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